


Dreams of Justice

by lumiereandcogsworth



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Not Episode Related, Post s19/Pre s20, i missed barba so i brought him back, stone sucks at his job
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 20:29:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17988035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumiereandcogsworth/pseuds/lumiereandcogsworth
Summary: “Well, hopefully things will be better after Stone leaves,” Benson shrugged.“What? Stone’s already leaving? It hasn’t been that long, has it?” Barba raised his eyebrows, not really having much of an idea as to how much time had passed since he left his position as an ADA.“It’s only been six months, but he apparently is thinking about a transfer to Brooklyn. It’s not for certain, but…”“Six months and he already wants out, didn’t think I left the job in that much chaos.” Barba scoffed into his wine glass, taking a sip.





	Dreams of Justice

“Well, that was…” 

“A waste of three months.” Fin said, sounding more irritated than usual. He turned up his coat collar on the back of his neck to fight the wind that began hitting the squad as they exited the large courthouse, all looking tired and defeated.

“In so many words,” Benson retorted, feeling every bit as annoyed as the rest of them. Trying to remain the level headed one, however, she withheld her exact feelings on Stone’s latest disaster of a job on their most recent case. 

“I’m telling you, Stone doesn’t know what he’s doing,” joined Carisi as he sauntered up behind them, swinging his tan trench coat over his shoulders. His graying and nicely coiffed back hair shifted as the wind hit him too. “There were other cases he could’ve referenced… I gave him some last week. He had more than enough evidence and he just,” the detective waved his hands in frustration, rolling his eyes and scowling down the steps as they descended them. 

“Alright, Carisi, what’s done is done.”

“Yeah, our hard work trailing this sick creep for three months all for nothing because Stone doesn’t know how to make an argument,” Carisi said bitterly.

“What, think you could do better?” Rollins asked, raising an eyebrow. Carisi just shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged off the conversation, internalizing the remainder of his rant.

“Well, seems like someone’s going to have to, I’m pretty sure Stone’s still planning on transferring to Brooklyn.”

“Good riddance,” Fin muttered.

“He really told you he wants to go?” Rollins inquired, almost too hopefully.

“Yeah,” Benson shrugged, putting a hand in her pocket. “Said he thinks he’d be a ‘better fit’ over there...” 

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s the  _ location _ that’s been his problem,” Fin continued, chuckling. 

“Nothing is certain yet, guys. All we can do is keep doing our jobs.”

“Yeah, if only Stone got that message,” said Rollins, smirking at Fin and giving him an underhanded high-five as they walked on. 

“Drinks tonight?” Fin asked as he split off from the group to his car.

“Sure,” Rollins and Carisi said, one more enthused than the other. 

“I’ll have to pass, Barba’s coming over for dinner. I’ll ask if he wants to join, but I’m sure you can guess what his answer will be,” Benson smirked. They all smiled back, remembering all the times Barba had rejected their evening outings before. “Have fun, guys,” said Benson, being the last one to get to her car and nodding to them as they all eventually drove off. 

 

\----

 

Benson leaned on the counter of her kitchen, scrolling through her phone with her glasses on and tossing over the events that transpired in the courtroom that day. Stone was fine, even good in some moments, but he couldn’t capture the room. No one cared to hear his drawn out statements and his by-the-book display of evidence, or lack thereof. She’d seen a lot of good ADAs in her time on the force, and Stone wasn’t exactly one of them. Truly, she missed--

A knock at the door broke her train of thought. 

 

Benson stood up, taking off her glasses and leaving them with her phone on the counter before heading for the door. 

“Hey, Rafa,” Benson smiled as she opened the door. Barba was wearing a dark green long-sleeved polo shirt with a black blazer and a long black trench coat over it. His hair was not too long, but long enough to be stylishly pushed back to the side. The sides of his hair were graying, but it became him quite nicely. He smiled back at her, tilting his head a little. 

“Hey, Liv,” Barba said, stepping into the apartment. 

“Oh, before you get settled, the squad was getting drinks tonight, told them I’d invite you.” Barba shifted his eyes to the side for a moment and grinned.

“That’s okay,” he said flatly with a devious smile on his face as he slipped his scarf from his shoulders. Benson laughed, loving how he was much happier being in the comfort of an apartment with her than in a loud bar with the rest of the squad. “So, how was the trial?” Barba asked, shrugging off his coat and hanging it. 

 

Barba had been getting little bits and pieces of the case the squad had been working on from Benson. She couldn’t help but call him just about as frequently as she did when they worked together. Barba didn’t seem to mind it too much. 

“Oh it was…” Benson started, walking back into the kitchen. “...Not great.” Barba gave a prideful half-smile, only for a moment. 

“Stone’s that bad, huh?” He followed her to the kitchen, leaning his back on the wall and recalling the occasional complaints that Benson would let slip on one of their phone calls or coffee outings. 

“He completely dropped the ball on our evidence,” Benson began, pulling two wine glasses from her cabinet. “His arguments just weren’t there. And now a rapist is still freely roaming his college campus,” Benson poured wine into the glasses and handed one to Barba. 

“Did he at least get on the registry?” 

“Yes, only that. Buchanan had the jury thinking it was a one-time, accidental, misdemeanor kind of situation,” she took a sip of her wine. “They ate it up.” 

“Which, of course, it wasn’t,” Barba said, already annoyed by the trial and Buchanan as a whole. 

“Well, hopefully things will be better after Stone leaves,” Benson shrugged.

“What? Stone’s already leaving? It hasn’t been  _ that _ long, has it?” Barba raised his eyebrows, not really having much of an idea as to how much time had passed since he left his position as an ADA. 

“It’s only been six months, but he apparently is thinking about a transfer to Brooklyn. It’s not for certain, but…” 

“Six months and he already wants out, didn’t think I left the job in that much chaos.” Barba scoffed into his wine glass, taking a sip.

“You didn’t. He’s just…” Bensons shrugged and shook her head. Barba nodded and looked to the side for a moment in thought, then back at Benson. 

“Do you know who’s going to replace him? The prosecutor at my trial last week told me she’s considering a more permanent position here.”

“Your trial, huh? How’s that going,  _ Judge _ Barba?” She grinned, so proud of her friend for achieving his new role as a judge. A small smile slowly formed on Barba’s face. 

“It’s going… great, actually. But it’s different,” he sipped his wine. “I miss the excitement of walking the floor, making my case. I watch the jury when I’m on the bench, see how they respond to the lawyers. It’s a very different perspective.”

“Yeah, I can imagine. I’m glad you’re happy, Rafa.” 

“Me too.” Barba looked into his wine glass for a beat. “You know, my abuelita- she always used called me ‘el juez’, judge, whenever she saw me or was talking to my mother. She was the one who said I’d make it through law school and end up a judge, before anyone else did. I never thought I’d actually become one.”

“She’d be so proud to see you now,” Benson said sweetly. Barba nodded, bringing his wine glass to his lips and taking another drink, soaking in the fond thought of his abuelita’s pride in him. 

 

“So, that’s a ‘no’, on Stone’s replacement, then?” Barba asked, wanting to side-step from his emotions and change the subject. 

“As of right now, we don’t know. But… There  _ is _ someone in mind that I wanted your opinion on.” 

“I’ll try not to be too honest,” Barba smirked. 

“I’ve been thinking maybe... Carisi.” Barba raised his eyebrows a bit, but then gave a half-smile. “After every trial he’s critiquing everything Stone does. Not to mention the complaining when Stone does something wrong,” Barba chuckled, setting the glass on the counter. 

“Does he even want the job? He seems pretty settled as a detective who constantly inserts his opinion into all the cases.” 

“He’s been saying more since Stone has been with us. Maybe he just misses you.”

“Yeah, sure,” Barba rolled his eyes. “So, what, do you think he’s ready?” 

“I think it’d be interesting… I don’t know. Lately I’ve been seeing actual lawyer potential in him, it’s like he’s itching to stand in place of Stone when we’re in court. I know he loves his job but he seems like he’s getting restless... I’ve mentioned the idea of being the ADA if Stone ever _ does _ leave, but he just sort of shrugs it off or says he still has more work as a detective to do.”    
“I could talk to him, see how he’s feeling. Maybe he just needs to hear it from someone who had the job and was actually good at it,” Barba smirked, picking up his glass. 

“We do miss you, Rafa.” Benson leaned her glass toward Barba’s, he mirrored her and they clinked their glasses, both taking another sip, letting their conversation trail into many other avenues for the rest of the evening. 

 

——

 

“Liv, do you have the reports from the three witnesses on the Thompson case?” Stone said right as he entered Benson’s office in an automated tone, as though he already had a hundred other things running in his mind. 

“Yeah, just a minute,” Benson said, glancing at him for a moment before returning her focus to the email she was typing. Stone edged into the office, standing awkwardly in the doorway and putting a hand in his pocket to fish for his phone. Benson then stood from her seat, fully revealing her light blue blouse and black blazer pantsuit. She grabbed a folder from the right side of her desk and walked it over to Stone, who was dressed in a black suit with an emerald green tie, a little too perfectly knotted. 

“Thanks,” Stone said, absentmindedly stuffing the folder under his arm and returning his phone to his front pocket. He nodded to her and walked back into the main area of the precinct. Benson followed for a step and then leaned in her doorway, observing.

“And, Carisi, you have the case file for the Whitman trial, right?” Carisi looked up from his computer, still peeved at Stone’s performance in court the day before. 

“Yeah, I got it right here.” He handed the manila folder labeled ‘Whitman’ over his shoulder, still hunched over his desk and deliberately averting his gaze. Stone collected it, eyebrows furrowed at Carisi’s seemingly (and rightly so) irritated behavior. 

“Everything alright?” Stone inquired, slightly leaning to the side to angle into Carisi’s peripheral view. The detective suddenly stood up, eyeing Stone for a moment before shouldering past him and heading for the break room.

“Yeah, just fine.” 

“Carisi, if there’s a problem…” Stone began in an even keeled tone. Carisi stopped in his tracks and then turned around, standing tall and wearing a navy blue waistcoat and slacks, his light blue sleeves rolled up to his elbows with his suit jacket remaining on the shoulders of his desk chair. He glared at the ADA who more or less seemed unaware of the provocation he’d just induced. The squad’s attention had suddenly been torn away from their work, and they all simultaneously looked up from their computers. Benson leaned off of her doorway but remained still, arms crossed on her chest.

“You wanna know if there’s a problem?” Carisi said, stepping toward Stone with fire in his eyes. “The only problem I’ve seen in the last few months is in that courtroom.” Stone perked his head back, almost blindsided by this accusation. 

“What do you mean by that?” Carisi chuckled to himself, shaking his head and looking away from Stone who looked completely dumbfounded. How was Carisi to bundle up all the steam he’d blown off about Stone for the last six months and gift wrap it for him in a way that clearly illustrated how completely terrible Carisi found him to be at his job? 

“Do you think you’re doin’ good work here? All the cases you’ve worked, have they been successful?” Carisi cupped his hands in front of him, keeping his cool.

“You don’t win every case that goes to trial, Carisi,” Stone said, scowling in offense but still speaking in a matter-of-fact way. 

“But you do win  _ some _ , right?” 

“Are you suggesting I’m not good at my job?” Was he ever. 

“All I’m sayin’ is I don’t think you always do everything in your power to actually work these cases,  _ counselor, _ ” Carisi added in a smug tone. 

“You don’t think I do everything in my power? Is that why I’m always here, working with all of you to get as much detail from each case as I can?” Stone stood still, his feet planted on the floor. All that moved were the files under his arms that had slipped down into his hand. 

“You might get detail from us but there’s more to it than that. There’s research, analysis, history, I mean,” Carisi chuckled as his emotions heightened. “Are you really tellin’ me that the Emerson case yesterday was a bust? We track this guy for three months and you let him go in a day. How’s that for justice?” Carisi scoffed, shifting in his stance.

“Not every case is that simple, Carisi, there are bylaws and-”

“Don’t talk to me about ‘simple’ cases, counselor, you know damn well-” 

The two men began speaking over each other, voices raised and emotional heat rising up in flames around them. Benson looked over her shoulder into her office for a moment, and then stepped toward the men to break up the argument. 

“Stone! Carisi! That’s enough!” Both ceased to speak but remained in heated eye contact. “Carisi, come on, why don’t you cool off in my office. Stone, if you don’t need anything else from us, you should go back to yours.” Benson put a hand on Carisi’s chest, making him step away from Stone. He resisted at first, still in the moment, but eventually followed Benson into her office. 

 

When he entered the office, he was met with someone he did not expect to see. Barba was sitting on the edge of Benson’s desk in a dark gray suit accompanied by a purple tie. He had a smug look on his face as though he’d just caught a child in the act of sneaking out past curfew. Barba had apparently come by the precinct to speak with Carisi, but managed to sneak all the way to Benson’s office without anyone noticing in all of Stone and Carisi’s commotion. He half-smiled at Benson, then shifted his gaze to Carisi. Part of him was just happy to be back in the sixteenth precinct, feeling like he’d never left. The other part of him began to buy into Benson’s opinion on Carisi actually setting foot in the law profession. Just hearing the tail-end of that argument alone, Barba could sense that Carisi desired more than to just be a detective for the rest of his life. He looked up at Carisi, leaning off of the desk and taking a step toward him.

“Coffee?” 

 

——

 

“So, do you just make it a point to argue with every ADA you work with?” Barba asked after receiving his coffee order from the stand into his unnecessary, and yet fashionably essential, leather gloved hands. Carisi popped the lid off of his drink to let it cool, scowling at Barba’s comment as the steam rose from plastic cup.

“When they’re not making the best decisions, yeah, I like to give some assistance,” he shrugged as the two began to walk down the road, both now adorned in trench coats to combat the cold weather that the gray sky left them with.

“Really. And how does Stone like your ‘assistance’?” 

“Don’t really care how he feels about it. Someone’s gotta tell him what he’s doing wrong.” 

“And you think you’re the man for that job?” 

“Stone doesn’t even like being the ADA, Barba. He’s just doing it ‘cause it’s what his father wanted for him.” Carisi huffed, clicking the coffee lid back onto the cup and taking a sip. 

“So, what, you think someone better could do it?” 

“Alright, I know what you’re gonna say. Liv probably talked to you, am I right? I’m not taking the ADA job, Barba. I’m just, not...” Carisi gestured his hand, searching for the right words.    
“Not what? Ready?” Barba stopped and turned to Carisi. “Passing the bar doesn’t mean anything anymore?” The detective rolled his eyes.    
“Yeah, like that ever meant anything to you.”    
Barba shifted his eyes to the side, then looked up at Carisi, trying to drain all his sarcasm in order to be sincere for a moment. 

“I know I was hard on you-”   
“Yeah you shot down every idea I ever had,” Carisi interjected.    
“That’s because they were my cases and you were in my way,” Barba snapped. Sincerity is rather short lived. Carisi sighed and rested a hand on his hip. “But,” Barba continued, trying to make his point mean something, “you know the law, Carisi. I knew that then, and you know it now.” Carisi looked down at his shoes in thought.    
“Look, it’s like, I know how to be a detective. I’m good at it, you know? I’m helping people every day and I can do this...” he looked down the road. “But actually being a lawyer? what if I’m not up to it?”    
“From what Liv has told me, it doesn’t sound like Stone’s shoes would be hard to fill, Carisi.” Barba snorted, taking a sip of coffee.    
“Come on,  _ your honor _ ,” Carisi emphasized, filling in Barba’s past title of counselor. “You know it’s not Stone’s shoes I’d be filling.” 

 

Barba blinked, all at once realizing the impact he’d actually made on Carisi as a law student. The detective continued his gaze at Barba, then looked away. There was an uneasy air between the two men. Carisi truly didn’t see himself fit to do the job as well as Barba had. Barba was the epitome of law, a role Carisi felt he could never reach.

“Carisi,” Barba began, a softer tone in his voice. “I  _ know _ you’d be a good lawyer. You’ve proven that case after case,” Barba chuckled a little. “You’re the most knowledgeable of all the detectives when it comes to the law.” 

“Of the detectives, sure,” Carisi shrugged. “But more than that? I don’t know…” The detective shifted in his stance and took another drink of coffee to wash down his nerves. Before now he’d always been able to avoid this conversation. To shove down the idea of him taking this next step; to shift away from his role as a detective and to finally enter a dream that he’d had since he first fell in love with finding justice for those who truly deserved it. 

“My first case was aggravated assault, this guy against his brother,” Barba said, looking off in the distance as though he had to pull this memory from the deepest recesses of his mind. “That morning I had to go into court for the first time, I was… terrified.” Carisi chuckled, folding his arms on his chest. “I opened the door, I remember holding my brief case tighter than anything I’d ever held. I walked in a straight line, right to the prosecution table, head down, palms sweaty, all of it.” Barba smiled too, his eyes glowed as he went deeper into the memory. “The judge walked in, I stood up so fast I got a head rush.” Carisi flat out laughed, imagining Barba as less than a perfect performer in the courtroom. “I sounded like a robot, I think I blacked out all other thoughts while I gave my opening statement. Jury probably thought I was crazy.” 

“Bet even  _ they _ could tell you were new,” Carisi joked, a huge smile on his face. Barba chuckled. 

“I’m sure they could,” he looked down at his feet, then brought his gaze back to the detective. “Being up there, in front of everyone, trying to prove something that some days just feels like the impossible? It’s hard. It’s not something everyone can, or should, do. You’ve gotta love it. You need to have that drive to make each case work and Carisi… You have that.” Carisi looked to the side, wishing he wasn’t being forced to hear Barba’s words that’s simply rang too strongly inside him. “Look, I don’t know what’ll happen with Stone. But... I do know that you have a purpose in the courtroom. Don’t waste all that knowledge you threw at me for four years,” Barba scoffed, raising his eyebrow. Carisi smirked, looking around searchingly for the right response. 

“Alright, alright. I’ll… I’ll think about. Thanks, Barba.” 

“You’re welcome,” Barba said, looking him up and down as if he were analyzing a real lawyer. As if ‘Counselor Carisi’ could truly become a reality. The pair of them continued their walk down the street. 

“So, what? Did you put that perp away for the aggravated assault?”

“Ten years,” Barba smiled proudly and took a sip of his coffee. 

“That’s it? Were there any threats of death? That could’a bumped it to fifteen.” Barba just rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. 

“Yeah thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” 


End file.
